Press Release
The 6th meeting of the ECO Council of Heads of Customs Administration (CHCA) and 2nd Meeting of the Sub-Committee of Experts was held in Baku, Republic of Azerbaijan on September 26-28, 2007. The delegations of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, Republic of Azerbaijan (host), Islamic Republic of Iran, Republic of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Republic of Turkey and Turkmenistan participated in the meeting.
Mr. Aydin Aliyev, Chairman of the State Customs Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan, inaugurated the meeting. In his inaugural speech Mr. Aydin Aliyev highlighted the importance and challenges of customs and the need for regional cooperation in the field of customs. The heads of delegations delivered their respective country presentations on various developments and initiatives in Customs cooperation.
The meeting reviewed the decisions of previous CHCA meetings and took note of the progress achieved since the first meeting of CHCA to promote customs cooperation amongst the Member States. The Council further deliberated in detail on the decisions of the 5th CHCA meeting which remained unresolved so far. The Member States were also requested to designate/update their National Focal Points on Customs.
The Council requested the Member States to provide training to the customs officials of other ECO Member States in the area of their expertise. It thanked the Republic of Azerbaijan for arranging two seminars on “Implementation of WTO Agreement on Customs Valuation among ECO Countries” and “Combating Counterfeiting and Piracy” for the customs officers of the ECO Member States in November-December 2006 and June 2007, respectively. The Head of Delegation of the Republic of Azerbaijan informed the meeting that the list of events to be held in the World Customs Organization Centre, circulated to Member States through ECO Secretariat, has been altered according to the views/comments of the Member States received so far. The meeting requested the Republic of Turkey to give exact date for the proposed training course scheduled for October this year. Member States were requested to provide their customs related material for the publication of the ECO Customs News Bulletin by the Secretariat. The Secretariat briefed the meeting about the latest position of the ECO Trade Agreement (ECOTA), ECO Trade and Development Bank and other related developments.
The meeting expressed appreciation on the approval of the Agreement on Establishment and Operations of ECO- Smuggling and Customs Offences Data Bank in the 3rd Ministerial Meeting on Commerce and Foreign Trade and its signing by five Member States i.e. Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Turkey. The meeting urged the non-signatory Member States to sign and the signatories to ratify the Agreement at the earliest. The Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the Republic of Turkey informed the meeting that they will soon ratify the Agreement after the completion of their ratification formalities.
The Islamic Republic of Iran signed the Agreement during the meeting but conveyed that, according to the comments of the relevant legal authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Iranian side reserves the right of submitting a declaration on articles VI(1) and X(3) of the agreement.
The ECO Transit Transport Coordination Council (TTCC) held a joint meeting with the Council to consider ways and means for implementation of the customs related provisions of TTFA. This joint meeting decided that the ECO Transit Trade Committee be established to cover all the related matters. The Member States were requested to convey to the ECO Secretariat their written proposals about the possible agenda items of the Committee and nominate their representatives within three months. The respective nominees of the member Customs Administrations to the Sub Committee of Experts already established by CHCA will represent their administrations in the Transit Trade Committee under TTCC. Member States may consider hosting the first meeting of the committee in the first half of the year 2008. It was also decided that the Secretariat would follow up preparation and submission of a Technical Assistance Project regarding custom/transit trade provisions of the TTFA.
The Report of the Sub Committee which held parallel meeting for two days was adopted by the Council and the finalized Draft ECO Agreement on Mutual Administrative Assistance approved. The Council authorized the Sub Committee of Experts to decide all issues relating to interpretation of the agreement and settle disputes, if any, and submit its recommendations for consideration by CHCA.
The Council approved the Islamic Republic of Pakistan for the 7th meeting of CHCA and elected the Head of Customs Administration of the host country as its next Chairman for a period of one year. In addition, the Council also elected the Chairman of the State Customs Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan as Vice Chairman for a period of one year. The meeting agreed to convene the next meeting in Pakistan in the fourth quarter of 2008 as offered by the Head of Delegation of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
The 2nd Meeting of the Sub Committee of Experts
The 2nd Meeting of the Sub Committee of Experts was held in Baku, Republic of Azerbaijan on September 26-27, 2007. The representatives of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, the Republic of Azerbaijan (host), the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the Republic of Turkey and Turkmenistan participated in the meeting.
The representative of the Republic of Azerbaijan State Customs Committee Mr. Mirgasim Fazil oglu Vahabov, inaugurated the meeting. The Committee unanimously elected the representative of Azerbaijan as the Chairman of the meeting and adopted the agenda.
As per the decision of the 5th meeting of ECO Council of Heads of Customs Administration (CHCA) held on July 3-5, 2006 in Istanbul, Turkey, the Sub Committee of Experts discussed the Draft ECO Agreement on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Customs Matters. The Sub Committee deliberated on the provisions of the Draft. After two days discussions, the experts proposed amendments to various articles and after reaching consensus, the Sub Committee decided to submit the final draft to CHCA for endorsement.
The sub-group thanked the Republic of Azerbaijan and the World Customs Organization for organizing Seminars on the Implementation of the WTO Customs Valuation Agreement for ECO Countries and on Combating Counterfeiting and Piracy. It also thanked the Republic of Azerbaijan for providing the list of events scheduled to be held in the WCO Training Centre, Baku and urged the Member States to give their views and comments on the subject list. It also thanked the Republic of Turkey for the proposed training courses for customs officers and requested to provide exact dates and venue for the training courses. It was stressed that any other proposals or contributions by Member States will be welcomed.
The Sub Committee underlined the importance of ongoing efforts as mandated by the CHCA. It was proposed that the Sub Committee in its upcoming meeting to be held during the 1st quarter of 2008 may undertake the following tasks:
i. ECO Transit Trade Procedures-Roadmap for implementation of the provisions of TTFA.
ii. Preparation of guidelines for import, export and transit procedures
iii. Developing a uniform Customs Valuation Form.
iv. Improving the administrative capacity of Member Customs Administrations.
[Home] [Contact us] [Feedback] [Back]